Oct. 21, 1893.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



341 



'^tq^ 0^^* 



The Forest and STBEA^r is put to press each week on Tues- 

 day. Correspondence intended for publicalion should reach 

 us at the latest by Monday, and ns much earlier as practicable. 



PLUMED QUAIL FROM THE SADDLE. 



Pasadena, Cal. — "The biggest thing in the way of 

 sport I ever heard of," said an old Californian, "was some 

 years ago down in the arroyo — by Los Angeles — a friend 

 of mine wrote me that he was entertaining an English- 

 man who was anxious to bag a few snipe, and asked me 

 to come down, so I went. The Englishman was as jolly 

 i gentleman as one would want to meet, but young, and 

 1 trifle fresh, to put it mildly. His ideas about America 

 were a little vague, and he was inclined to accept almost 

 anything that came along. So one evening a dozen of us 

 tttet at the bend of the arroyo, and our English friend 

 was provided with a large linen bag. 'You see,' said our 

 host, 'we each take stations at certain positions and hold 

 the bags just over the water, and some one will creep 

 around and come down stream and drive the snipe. You 

 aee, the birds fly low, just above the stream, and will pop 

 into your bag before you know it.' The Englishman took 

 his place, and the rest of the party went home and to bed 

 and we beard that early the next day a Mexican coming 

 along saw him and brought him into town. He had held 

 the bag over the little stream until he could hardly move, 

 but he didn't see the joke until the Mexican began to 

 laugh. There were several bottles opened the next day, 

 you may be sure, yet 'bagging snipe' is still indulged in 

 when a very anxious sportsman is found." 



Quail shooting in the San Gabriel Valley is a sport well 

 worthy the name, and requires harder work and quicker 

 shooting than in the East. Again, the flocks, though 

 large, are often separated by a number of miles, and he 

 who walks all day, by night has covered more ground 

 than is conducive to strict enjoyment. I think I have 

 reduced the sport to a science by shooting from my 

 horse, only leaving the saddle to pick up the birds. It 

 might be claimed that this was taking undue advantage 

 of the birds, some of which will not fly from a horse, hut 

 all the quail that I have killed from the saddle were 

 honest wing shots when the bird was humming through 

 the air at f uU speed. 



An idea of shooting in this valley may be obtained from 

 a trip taken on the 22d of February last. There was snow 

 in the atr. For several days previous it had been raii^ing 

 in the lowlands and snowing on the Sierra Madres, so that 

 the entire range was capped with snow of dazzling white- 

 ness; and the great pines that grow upon the peaks were 

 loaded with tlie downy covering, appearing in strong re- 

 lief against the blue sky. Yet as we rode up the valley 

 and entered the great arroyo, headed for the Linda Vista 

 trail, the air was redolent with orange blossoms, flowers 

 springing up everywhere, and the bare limbs of the peach 

 trees were here and there dotted with blossoms, which 

 ' from a short distance resembled great flakes of snow 

 blown from the distant mountain. Our objective was 

 a canon that cuts into a range of hills, a spur of the Sierra 

 Madres, just to the west of Pasadena, and to reach it the 

 very crest of the hills had to be reached — a cUmb of no 

 little magnitude. But the horses had been over such 

 country before, and by judicious tacking the summit was 

 made in two hours. If game was not found, the view 

 quite repaid the cUmb, as probably several hundred square 

 miles of country were stretched before us, orange grove 

 and vineyard succeeding feach other as far as the eye 

 could reach, only ending, so it seemed, against the whit- 

 ened slopes of San Gorgonio. The descent upon the other 

 side was by a "hog back" or ridge about four feet wide, 

 sloping away to canons into which the horses would roll 

 if a slip was made. It was something like sliding down 

 the side of a house, and my faithful little mare, that has 

 carried me over many such a place, slid a part of the way, 

 simply settling back on her haunches and going with the 

 gravel, coming out of the dust further down in good shape. 

 In this manner the canon bottom was reached, and found 

 to be, owing to the recent rains, full of water; so that we 

 had to wade perhaps half a mile, which brought us out 

 into the open country. We had just stepped upon the sod 

 when there came from far away a note, so curious that it 

 would have attracted the immediate attention of anyone. 

 It was a musical whistle, but seemed to say, "Po-ta-toe." 

 This was repeated several times, and then came the an- 

 swering note, "I-love-you," and if we had been neai-er a 

 soft chipping would have been heard. It was the call of 

 the plumed quail coming down the canon on the breeze. 

 In a moment guns were in hands, and two mischievous 

 deer dogs that would have stampeded the flock were made 

 fast to the saddles, and separating gradually we pushed in 

 the direction of the sound. 



We had gone perhaps '200yds. , when I heard alow 

 whistle, and looking in that direction saw one of my 

 companions motioning me to come. We had entered a 

 greasewood patch that grew about 4ft. high, aboimding 

 in the sharp yucca, or Spanish bayonet, and it was slow 

 work for the horses, but in a moment I was at my friends' 

 side. Both were peering through a little window in the 

 bush upon a sight likely, as it did, to cause a "revulsion of 

 feelings" and a rush of blood everywhere. But 40ft. away 

 was a covey of plumed quail of unheard of size. They 

 literally covered the little field in which they were feed- 

 ing, and were running about, bobbing their heads in a 

 comical fashion, and showing off their points to the 

 best advantage. It was a beautiful sight, and one not 

 often seen under the most favorable circumstances. It 

 would have been mm'der to have fired, so for a moment 

 we watched them, then rushed the horses at them, and 

 amid the roar of wings took them right and left from 

 the saddle— the air seemed fuU of black balls — darting 

 here, there and every where, some dropping, thewoujided 

 scudding for cover, while the turf was dotted with 

 fallen plumes. We estimated there were over a thous- 

 and in the entire flock, and the roar of their wings as 

 they made for the little side canons was startling. The 

 spoils were soon gathered, the wounded fished from 

 gopher holes, where they had crawled, and the main 

 body followed up. 



The work was more difficult now, as the birds were 

 fired into almost invariably separate, and in this case 

 had divided up into several small canons and hiding in 

 •the greasewood on the slopes, so that the only method 



of reaching them was to dismount and climb over the 

 ridges and take the bii-ds on the fly, with the chances of 

 their dropping into the bush at the canon's bottom. This 

 was hard work, and holding a gun in one hand and haul- 

 ing yourself up by the greasewood with the other has its 

 disadvantages. In the midst of this performance a 

 bird flushed immediately in front of me. To drop 

 the bush was to fall over backward. So cling- 

 ing with one hand I fired with the other, making 

 the cock's feathers fly, but he landed in the biish and 

 crawled off. Every "hog back" crossed provided several 

 birds that darted off with remarkable rapidity and af- 

 forded fine shooting when we were fortunate in being on 

 the ridge. Finally the birds were driven over into the 

 mouth of a broad canon, and numbers were running in 

 the stubble. The only way was to run for it; and run we 

 did. Once in range, they began to rise and bombard the 

 air everywhere, the reports of the gims coming thick and 

 fast, the filing being to the right and left as quick as 

 possible. 



When it is remembered that the country here was 

 the dry wash of a stream tilled with stones, prickly 

 pear and other cacti, it wiU be seen that it was no 

 child's play. In fact, I consider quail shooting here, 

 looking at it from all sides, as hard work, and one of my 

 companions, an old sportsman in the East, who has tried 

 all game, told me that he considered that the little birds 

 called for shooting entirely different from their allies in 

 the East. This is owing in some measure to the cunning 

 of the cocks. 1 have seen their tactics on many an occa- 

 sion, and when hiding they show many ti'icks which 

 would be amusing if study was the object instead of game 

 pie or quail on toast. If a cock is certain that he is not 

 observed he will lie low within 3ft. of the sportsman. 

 Walking rapidly along some time ago, following a flock, 

 I saw a fine plump cock not 3ft. from me, crouching 

 under a bush. I had come upon him so suddenly that 

 he concluded to stay. I was too near to fire so I kept on, 

 then turned. When seeing that he was caught he shot 

 away, only to fall. In thick cover birds will often take 

 to low trees, and to see four or five of these httle creat- 

 ures climbing a tree, always keeping upon the opposite 

 side, just their tips or plumes occasionally showing, is a 

 comical sight. The hens are less venturesome and are 

 exceedingly shy. 



The bag we secured in this canon would have delighted 

 the eye of an artist, the birds forming an attractive 

 picture. In fact I never went out with a new hand, no 

 matter how ardent a sportsman, but regret was ex^jressed 

 that sport should demand the destruction of such beauti- 

 ful birds. There are two species very much resembling 

 each other, so much so that if they rise together it would 

 be somewhat difficult to distinguish between them. They 

 have, however, quite distinct ranges, the California 

 variety or species, Lophortyx californica. is found in 

 this State up into Washington Territory, probably follow- 

 mg the bases of the Sierra Madres up to the Sierra 

 Nevadas, and so on, and probably some are found well 

 down towai'd Mexico; but the favorite ground of the 

 little birds is southeast of central California, the San 

 Gabriel Valley, especially about San Bernardino, abound- 

 ing in them. The other species is L, gambeli, the quail 

 of Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico, I have 

 recently had opportunities for examining numbers alive, 

 and it is difficult to determine wbich is the most attrac- 

 tive. 



Both species have black throats, and the sides of the 

 head are decorated with marks or splashingsof white; the 

 breast bluish, and from the top of the head springs a 

 jaunty plume, made up of several feathers — springing 

 from the same spot and spreading out; when running, 

 this is thrown forward, giving the bird a curious appear- 

 ance; the tops of the plume feathers curl over forward, 

 and the webs bend backward, folding over the succeeding 

 feather, so that only a single plume is seen. In the hen 

 the crest is much smaller and brown instead of black. In 

 the lower portions the greatest difference between the 

 species is noticed. The Ai-izona quail has a wide buff- 

 coloring in the upper part of the abdomen, while the 

 lower portion is black. In L. calif ornica, the upper part 

 of the abdomen is a golden brown, the feathers being 

 a rich chestnut edged with black. It is difficult to ade- 

 quately describe these beautiful birds, as their attractive- 

 ness is the result of nature's wonderful grouping of shades, 

 colors and tints, and in the make-up they constantly re- 

 mind one of diminutive pheasants. When running 

 they do not make rapid headway, but once flushed they 

 put themselves out of range in remarkably short time, 

 having a way even when wounded of pouncing into the 

 brush and escaping. It is evident that in tho well con- 

 ditioned birds flying is difficult work, as the wings are 

 small in proportion to the weight of bu-ds, and some that 

 I have taken were so fat that they broke open as they 

 struck the ground. 



Regarding the quality of the quail in a gastronomic 

 sense, in my estimation it does not compare with its ally 

 of the East, It lacks the dehcate flavor and is often 

 strong — offensively so — when dieting continually among 

 sage brush. Yet the little bird is, when properly cooked, 

 a delicacy not to be slighted. For the table, as far as my 

 experience goes, I prefer Gambel's quail, or the Arizona 

 variet>% but it is evident that, as with other birds, proper 

 feeding would vastly improve their flavor. 



There is still another quail in this country, of which a 

 friend said the other day: "I would give %2o to flush a 

 covey," The bird is the shy mountain quail, or plumed 

 partridge {Oreortyx pictm), found only in the darker 

 recesses of the upper range. It is much larger than its 

 ally of the mesa and is a noble bird of fine cai-riage. 

 Instead of a plume the head bears two long attenuated 

 feathers, which look Uke pens pushed behind a hidden 

 ear and give the bird a rakish appearance. The general 

 color is dark blue, the throat chestnut, the sides and 

 abdomen rich chestnut, while the coloring upon the 

 feathers alternating black and white is quite attractive. 

 They are rarelj" seen in large flocks, ten and twenty being 

 the average. They are confined to the ranges of this 

 State and Oregon. As a table delicacy they exceed the 

 plumed quail. Callipepla sqiunnata, the blue quaU of 

 Arizona and Mexico, probably sometimes strays into the 

 Sierra Mad re foothills, but the ones previously mentioned 

 are the true lords of the mesa lands. C. F. Holder. 



Washing^ton Ducks and Deer. 



New Whatcom, Washington, Sept. 30,— Duck and deer 

 himting is good in this section, also fresh and salt water 

 fishing. |W. E. H. 



A WEEK AT CAMP BLAIR. 



The North Wakefield Fishing Club, whose camp bears 

 the above name from resjiect to one of its members, is 

 located in the township of North Wakefield, about thirty- 

 five miles northeast of Ottawa, Canada, in one of the 

 wildest and most picturesque regions I have ever seen 

 east of the Rocky Mountains. The membership of the 

 club is limited to twenty, and at present is composed of 

 gentlemen from Brooklyn, N. Y,, and Canada. 



The property of the club consists of 100 acres of land 

 on which stands the club house, a substantial building 

 30x40ft.; two stories high, suitably divided into dining 

 and sitting rooms, and sleeping apartments, with a large 

 extension for a kitchen; also an ice house, and boat house 

 for storage of boats in the winter. The club has a long 

 lease from the Canadian Government of five lakes, and 

 has purchased one rod in width of land surrounding each 

 lake, thus being able to legally protect their leased property. 

 The club house stands but a' few feet from and overlooks 

 Clear Lake, the dimensions of which are from a half to 

 three-quarters of a mile each way, with small bays or inlets 

 crowding in between the hills here and there at d the crys- 

 tal waters of which mirrored with the lofty rocks, hfils and 

 forest by which it is surrounded, make a lovely view from 

 the veranda of the club house. Clear Lake is indeed 

 a beautiful lake, but not more so than the others. They 

 are all beautiful, but like beautiful maidens they are not 

 all alike, but each has a charm peculiar to itself. They 

 are all gems nestling in a deep setting of the everlasting 

 rocks and hills. And yet to a votary of the rod and reel 

 they possess another cliarm which crowns the whole with 

 glory, and makes this locality an ideal haunt for those 

 who follow the ways of good old Izaak Walton, They 

 teem with trout as fine as ever took a fly, in weight from 

 41 bs. down to *lb,, and very few are caught weighing less 

 than ilb. 



Now I am sure that the pleasure I enjoyed with four 

 other members of the club dui-ing a week's sojourn at 

 Camp Blair will gain me pardon for so minute a descrip- 

 tion of it as I have given. A country boy is always to be 

 pardoned for the pride and importance which fills him 

 with the possession of his first pair of boots; and though 

 a lad of sixty-seven summer, I must declare that this Avas 

 metaphorically my "first pair of boots" in trout fishing, 

 and yet do not for a moment imagine that my delight 

 depended on the great number of fish that came to my 

 landing net, for this would be far from true. My 

 experience in fishing with the fly had been in follow- 

 ing it down some shallow brook, occasionally "snaking 

 out" a 4oz, trout, but oftener catching a stick with my 

 fly while another stick gave my "weather eye" a jab, and 

 still in this I had found some sport and a wonderful school 

 for patience and perseverance. I knew little of the subtle 

 art of fly-castiner, hence had to content myself in seeing 

 others more skilled reap the merited reward of their pro- 

 ficiency, but ask the other boys if I did not cheer them 

 every time they landed a 1,2 or 3-pounder? and I know 

 they cheered me to the echo for every fish I caught. We 

 were not fishing entirely for quantity, but for sport, and 

 that sport was mutual, generous and very pleasant. 



Our cook, a French Canadian, was well skilled in cook- 

 ing fish and game, and our table was well provided with 

 both, and our appetites did honor to the cook and his 

 table. 



Partridges were quite plenty, but there was no sport in 

 shooting them, for they were always in thickets, and 

 when disturbed would generally jump on a log or flutter 

 into a bush or tree and sit there till shot down. Late one 

 afternoon as we were returning to camp from the day's 

 fishing we met an old man and his son going down the 

 lake in a canoe, and who when questioned by the guide 

 in regard to their destination and object, said they were 

 to meet a party with hounds on Oct, 1 for a deer hunt, 

 but the guide told us he thought they had a net with 

 them and would use it that night; so after supper and it 

 had become dark the guide and one of our party started 

 down the lake to investigate, and were rewarded by find- 

 ing a net set, which they took up and brought to camp 

 with six trout, one of which weighed 2flbs, The net 

 could not have been set an hour, and it is probable that 

 the poachers would have got in the neighborhood of 

 lOOlbs, of trout if the net had remained undisturbed till 

 morning. 



It being against the law of the Provinces to use nets for 

 taking fish in the lakes, whether private or public, when 

 we came out of camp we gave the net, with ah. informa- 

 tion, to one of our Canadian members, who will proceed 

 against the poachers in the courts. 



The poaching incident was the only unpleasant one dur- 

 ing om- stay, and this even had a sort of adventurous 

 charm about it which made one think of self-defense in 

 its broadest and most honorable sense. Thefohage of the 

 forests when we first arrived had scarcely begun to take 

 on its autumn tints, but ere we left natm-e's wonderful 

 artist had painted the landscape in a thousand glowing 

 shades, rivaling even our boasted New England autumnal 

 scenes. Amid such surroundings, with genial and whole- 

 souled companions, I know I am a better man for the 

 week I spent at Camp Blair. A. 



HADDAjf, Coim., Oct. la. 



Moose and Deer in Maine. 



Kmo AND Baetlett Camps. — P. O. Eustis, Me,, Oct, 8, — 

 Large game and partridges are more plentiful in Franklin 

 county this season than at any time for the last eight 

 years. David Haines, a guide at this camp, shot a tine 

 2-year-old bull moose the other day (since Oct. 1). In a 

 "drive" near Gus Douglass's Spectacle Pond Camp, in 

 which ten men took part, a moose passed within 25ft. of 

 where Mr, Dana J. Flanders, of Boston, Mass., had been 

 stationed, but he thought the "drive" was over, so had 

 left his position and by so doing lost a fine chance, Mr. 

 Flanders's party took out four deer on the buckboard, 

 having shot them at Gus Douglass's camp, near Hurricane 

 Pond. This party sighted nineteen deer while in camp, 

 Dr, P, W. Bamber, while at W. W. Douglass's Blakesley 

 Camp, had a good shot at a cow moose, but to his credit 

 did not shoot. He afterward shot a nice doe and Mr, 

 Eome, of liis party, shot a fme buck near last named 

 camp. So far I have seen six deer and have shot two, 

 one being a 3-year old buck and the other a .5 -year-old 

 doe. Any sportsmen who visit Gus Douglass or W, W. 

 Douglass's Camps, can count on having shots at large 

 game. Either one can be reached by letter or telegram at 

 Eustis, Me. Clarence Howland, 



